American Forests Forestbytes October 2009

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Mark your calendars! This coming Saturday, Oct. 17th we’re excited to announce Tree Hugger Day, organized by American Forests and IKEA in celebration of IKEA’s 1 millionth tree planted through Global ReLeaf tree planting projects across the United States. Everyone is invited to participate in the day’s events, which feature a special celebration at the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, DC with the National Cherry Blossom Festival.

For more information on National Tree Hugger Day events across the country and our Tree Hugger photo contest, visit www.imatreehugger.org. Join us in this fun, family-friendly demonstration of appreciation for all trees do. For the DC Tree Hugger event, taking place from noon to 3 p.m. on the 17th, American Forests will be joined by the National Cherry Blossom Festival and the National Park Service for music, naturalist-led tours, an appearance by the beloved Treetures character Blossom, a group tree hug, and other activities among some of America’s best known trees at the Tidal Basin. READ MORE

Chegg.com Plants One Million Trees Through Global ReLeaf
Top online textbook rental company Chegg.com is proud to announce its one millionth tree planted through American Forests’ Global ReLeaf program since 2007. Through Global ReLeaf, Chegg plants a tree for every book rented, sold or bought. To celebrate this milestone, the company has selected its one-millionth renter, Jarrett Crisp, a junior from Hill College in Burelson, Texas. READ MORE

Have A Green Halloween
Put the “Use” in Reusable Bags
Here’s the bad news: North America goes through an estimated 110 billion plastic shopping bags annually, 100 million of which end up in a landfill each week (www.bringyourbag.com). The good news: a single high-quality reusable bag can do the work of 1,000 plastic bags over its lifetime (www.reusablebags.com), and efforts like IKEA’s to stop using throw-away bags are helping. Keep up the good work this Halloween by passing on plastic and paper bags for collecting treats, and instead choose reusable plastic jack-o-lanterns, or sturdy cloth or canvas bags that you can bring grocery shopping all year round. READ MORE

Autumn Magazine Preview
Don’t miss the Autumn issue of American Forests magazine, coming out later this month!
You won’t want to miss:
A story on backyard biodiversity by acclaimed author and ecologist Douglas Tallamy.
A piece on the destruction and continued threat of the Mountain Pine Beetle by Gary Lantz. A preview of America’s Historic Tree Register, and the history of the wonderful program that made this long-awaited register a reality. All this and much more will be in our Autumn issue later this month. To get your copy of American Forests magazine, visit www.americanforests.org.

Do You Know a Special Tree?
America's Historic Tree Register American Forests is accepting nominations for America’s Historic Tree Register, scheduled for official release in late November. The newly created Register showcases historically and culturally significant trees, and provides an opportunity to nominate trees of personal significance. READ MORE

Remembering Flight 93

On the 8th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the National Park Service held a memorial service in Shanksville, Pennsylvania at the crash site of Flight 93. Guests and speakers gathered to honor the memories and the courage of Flight 93’s passengers and crew. The keynote speaker General Colin Powell was joined by former Governor Tom Ridge, Governor Ed Rendell, General Tommy R. Franks, and Mr. Gordon W. Felt, president of the Families of Flight 93.READ MORE

Wildfire: Recap since late August

The largest fire in modern Los Angeles County history raged for over three weeks into the end of summer, burning over 160,500 acres, threatening more than 12,000 homes, and claiming the lives of two firemen. READ MORE

A Close Call in Baltimore
Stenhomalus, a dangerous long-horned beetle, was discovered August 28 in a cargo container shipped from China to the port of Baltimore. While this particular member of the family of destructive wood-boring beetles has been identified only once before in a U.S. port – and isn’t yet loose in North America –READ MORE

Obama Picks Harris Sherman as New Agriculture Undersecretary

On September 10th, President Obama named Harris Sherman, director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, as his pick for new agriculture undersecretary. READ MORE

Cornell Tree Inventory Shows Big Tree Benefits

This summer, Cornell University conducted its first comprehensive inventory of the main campus’ 7,000+ trees, and found that they provide huge benefits in terms of carbon storage and other ecosystem services. READ MORE

Fall Color Extravaganza

American Forests has some things for you to keep in mind as you enjoy this year's fall foliage season. READ MORE


	AMERICAN FORESTS, RVCC Letter to Senate Addresses Strengths, Provides Suggestions for ACES Recently, as part of the Rural Voices for Conservation Coalition (RVCC), American Forests helped draft and submit a letter to key Senate leaders on the strengths of the “American Clean Energy and Security Act” (H.R. 2454) and suggestions for its improvement. Among its recommendations, RVCC stressed the need for strong funding to help the Forest Service address the potential impacts of climate change through federal programs directed toward both National Forests and state and private forests. READ MORE


	Diverse Organizations Rally Behind Community Forestry Conservation Act A diverse group of conservation, forest products, and financial organizations are united in an effort to support bipartisan legislation in the House and Senate that would help nonprofits acquire private forestland for the purpose of long-term conservation and sustainable management. The group hopes for action on the bill, introduced this past July, before the end of the year. READ MORE

	FLAME Passes Senate A major new initiative to fund emergency wildfire suppression passed the Senate on September 24, thanks in part to the leadership and collaboration of American Forests, the National Association of State Foresters and The Wilderness Society. READ MORE

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Email treedoc@amfor.org